Control plugs or stemming devices such as the industry standard aggregates being typically 5 mm, 10 mm, 15 mm in diameter, StemPlug blast control plug and the MaxBlast™ blast control plug (both commercially available from BF Carr & Associates, St. Louis, Mo., USA) have been developed and used to improve the efficiency of blasting in the mining industry.
When the stemming devices or control plugs operate as intended, they provide the advantage of reducing the costs of explosives required for blasting operations and associated downstream processing costs.
In circumstances where conventional stemming with aggregates or the control plugs fail in their operation, inconsistent rock breaking can occur which has associated problems with safety, re-blasting and rock processing.
It is against these problems and difficulties associated therewith that the present invention has been developed.